Vladimir Rakhmanin
Deputy Online Editor
A trailer for the new Splinter Cell game came out today. Having enjoyed some of the previous entries in the franchise, I decided to take a look. My first reaction was that of disappointment, having discovered that the stealth elements that made the series special have been discarded in favour of straightforward third-person action. However, as the trailer progressed, my disappointment quickly turned into deep unease and disgust.
Towards the end of the trailer, the protagonist, Sam Fisher, brutally interrogates one of the characters by savagely beating him up, stepping on him, and tasering him. The player is then given a choice whether he wants Sam to spare or kill the character. Now, this scene bothered me on two levels – first of all, moral choices in videogames usually have the player choose between right and wrong. In this scene, however, the ‘wrong’ had already been done – Fisher has already chosen to torture the agent without the consent of the person playing the game, making the narrative tree just an illusion to mask the game’s linearity. However, on a deeper level, what bothered me is how this torture, arguably the worst thing one human being can do to another, wasn’t being portrayed as something that is morally wrong – it was portrayed as something utterly badass, an action that is exciting and desirable.
Let’s go back a couple of months, shall we? This year’s E3 was disappointing to me on many levels – however, I was mostly sickened by the glorification of violence, and even worse, the public’s reaction to it. When Sony showcased their post-apocalyptic survival game, The Last of Us, the final scene, where one of the main characters flattens a man’s face with a shotgun wasn’t met with shock and horror. It was met with rapturous applause. An auditorium full of well-respected journalists cheering on as a fictional character is having his head crushed in. This is not a slight on Naughty Dog, the developers of the game, mind you – their track record shows me that if they are using violence for story-telling, they will use it because it is necessary – it is the people’s bloodlust that I found disturbing.
Things do not end here – I will bring up the example of the trailer for Hitman: Absolution. In this trailer, Agent 47, the protagonist, murders a large amount of nuns dressed in revealing clothing. No gameplay is shown – apparently, Ubisoft decided that this orgy of sex and violence will be enough for consumers to make their decision on whether or not they wish to buy their products. No story context either – just images of using women as human shields, noses breaking, and the terrified look on one of the nun’s faces as she is mercilessly stabbed from behind.
More examples? How about the demo for Far Cry 3? The first two minutes feature a topless African tribe member. The nudity isn’t brief, either – the camera makes sure to display all the exploitative details. Further on, we see some more brutal kills from the first person perspective.
The thing that offended me the most out of this entire conference, though, was the Tomb Raider trailer. Not only do I hate the new direction the series is taking, taking less emphasis off the platforming and exploration and more on the third person shooting, I also despise the fact that the whole project reeks of being an exploitative misogynistic fetish. We see our beloved Lara crawl through mud, fall onto sharp spikes, and scream and yelp like a porn star whenever something hurts her. Do we ever see Nathan Drake yell as loud as that whenever he gets shot? I don’t think so.
This is a far cry from the empowered (albeit two-dimensional) Ms Croft of days gone by. Now, I would have accepted this violence if it was there to make a statement, like we were promised by the developers – however, it seems to me that the violence and misogyny are the statement here. Once again, this portrayal of Lara as a teen revels in all the gory details, as if the writers are enjoying inflicting suffering on their protagonist. Most shockingly, the trailer even suggested that there may be a rape scene in the game. If it is handled as poorly as the violence, Square Enix could have some serious outrage on their hands.
I’m not saying that violence should not feature in video games – what I’m saying is that it should be used in a mature way. For example, God of War features some sickeningly brutal executions – however, it fits extremely well with the source material of Greek mythology, which in itself is extremely violent. The recent Spec Ops: The Line condemned violence by showing what it does to the protagonist’s mental state – Manhunt uses it in a satirical way, in order to provide a commentary on what we consider entertainment.
Sex and violence must exist in video games, as they are inherent features of humanity, and therefore will make their way into any creative medium – however, they should not exist simply to allow the players to enact cruel fantasies, and make them seem incredibly cool and exciting. Some decide to express those fantasies through more fantasy orientated games like League of Legends. There is still violence but the focus is on competitive skill development. Those in the League of legends community who aren’t as skilled have various nicknames like L9. What is L9? There are many online articles that cover that but what we want to focus on is the development that these games encourage in their players. In this instance, this development of these players is part of the storytelling of the game. Violence isn’t the focal point. But that isn’t true for all games. Many would argue that violence should be used in a way which enhances the story the game is trying to tell. Unfortunately, the industry has to make money, and it seems that the public really does desire these cruel fantasies. Only time will tell if video games are able to overcome this juvenile stage and not sink to the depths of exploitative entertainment.
